Tuesday 16th August against Macclesfield FC saw the first home game in the Pitching In NPL West campaign for 2022/23 - it also resulted in the highest home attendance since the visit of Wigan Athletic on 12th November 1993 where 2785 watched Leek Town draw 2-2.

The attendance for the evening was a whopping 2024, the game was all ticket & segregated. Leek town sold 1,174 (online & offline) with Macclesfield selling 850 (offline).

Leek more than matched high spending Macclesfield for an hour but eventually lost out 3-1 with some uncharacteristic defending in the latter stages. Off the pitch the game largely passed without incident and was commended by many for the hospitality, organisation and spirit at the ground for the game.

Leek Town Chairman, Jon Eeles issued the following statement

"We began to plan for the game on the 14th July when the fixtures were announced, Ill be honest I had a funny feeling that we would play Macclesfield very early and that proved to be the case."

"I would like to thank all the Directors, Committee members, volunteers and staff who have worked tirelessly since this was announced - we wanted to segregate and with that came extra responsibilities - and on the whole I think we did a very credible job. You wont please everyone all the time but the feedback I have had has been generally good. I would also like to thank our counterparts at Macclesfield and in particular Patrick Birch who handled all aspects of the ticket sales at Macclesfield."

"My biggest thanks go to supporters who came to the game and cheer us on, the turn out was tremendous and their behavior impeccable and respectful, this is very encouraging for the season and we must try to re-create that atmosphere as much as possible. My thanks also go to the Macclesfield supporters too who on the whole were well behaved and patient."

"Id also like to thank Brian Mellor at Leek Cricket Club who provided parking, and Bridgend Service Station who allowed us park players and officials close to the ground - a great collaborative effort."

"We have learned a lot from the experience and will definitely take some of that forward into other larger games and normal match days. The biggest bonus was the ticketing - I know a few fans were frustrated at the process but this was done to prioritise regular fans and safeguard the safety of supporters too. Although their were queues for beer & food there were very few bottlenecks on entry, and that was down to scanning tickets. I really hope people understand that for us this is the best way for the Club too handle ticket sales and I would encourage everyone to continue to use it going forward - if you dont want to queue buy your ticket online, even if its from your phone as you walk to the ground."

"Macclesfield are an anomaly at this level of football and will outnumber most Clubs in this league when they play away from home - but not at Leek Town - thank you all for your continued support."

"You dont get much rest now the season has started and we are busily preparing for the visit of Atherstone Town on Saturday in the FA Cup, please join us if you can."